Lil Wayne
Dwayne Michael Carter Jr. (born ), known professionally as Lil Wayne, is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, record executive, entrepreneur, and actor. His career began in 1996, at the age of 13, when he was discovered by Birdman and joined Cash Money Records as the youngest member of the label. He joined the southern hip hop group Hot Boys, with Cash Money label-mates Juvenile and Turk, in 1997, who became popular following the release of the album Guerrilla Warfare (1999) and the "Bling Bling". For many years, Lil Wayne was the flagship artist of Cash Money Records, before ending his long-tenured deal with the company in June 2018. Lil Wayne's solo debut album Tha Block Is Hot (1999) was certified Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). He reached higher popularity with his fourth album Tha Carter (2004), as well as with his appearance on the song "Soldier" with Destiny's Child that same year. The album was followed by Tha Carter II (2005), as well as several mixtapes and collaborations throughout 2006 and 2007. Lil Wayne gained more prominence with his sixth album Tha Carter III (2008), which became his most successful album to date, with first-week sales of over one million copies in the US. The album won the Grammy Award for Best Rap Album and included successful singles "Lollipop", "A Milli" and "Got Money". Following the success of Tha Carter III, Wayne decided to record a rock-influenced album titled Rebirth. In March 2010, Lil Wayne began serving an 8-month jail sentence in New York after being convicted of criminal possession of a weapon stemming from an incident in July 2007. His eighth studio album I Am Not a Human Being (2010) was released during his incarceration, while his 2011 album Tha Carter IV was released following his release. Tha Carter IV sold 964,000 copies in its first week in the United States, and included the singles "6 Foot 7 Foot", "How to Love" and "She Will". His twelfth studio album Tha Carter V was released in 2018 after multiple delays. It went on to be certified Platinum by the RIAA. Wayne´s thirteenth album, Funeral, was released in early 2020. Lil Wayne has sold over 100 million records worldwide, including more than 15 million albums and 37 million digital tracks in the United States, making him one of the world's best-selling music artists. He has won five Grammy Awards, 11 BET Awards, four Billboard Music Awards, two MTV Video Music Awards and eight NAACP Image Awards. On September 27, 2012, he became the first male artist to surpass Elvis Presley with the most entries on the Billboard Hot 100, with 109 songs. Lil Wayne also currently serves as the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of his own label, Young Money Entertainment. Early life Dwayne Michael Carter Jr. was born on September 27, 1982, and spent his first few years in the impoverished Hollygrove neighborhood of New Orleans, Louisiana. His mother, a cook, gave birth to him when she was 19 years old. His parents divorced when he was 2, and his father permanently abandoned the family. Although Wayne and Birdman have a father-son relationship and Birdman calls Carter his son, Wayne's biological father and namesake (Dwayne Carter) is still alive. Lil Wayne has also spoken about his deceased stepfather, Reginald "Rabbit" McDonald, who he has said he considers his real father. Carter has a tattoo dedicated to Rabbit, who was murdered before Carter became a star.Carter enrolled in the gifted program of Lafayette Elementary School and in the drama club of Eleanor McMain Secondary School. Wayne attended McMain in the early 1990s for two years. He moved to the Marion Abramson Senior High School. In a CBS interview with Katie Couric, Wayne described why he goes by the name of "Wayne" instead of his given name, Dwayne. Carter explained, "I dropped the D because I'm a junior and my father is living and he's not in my life and he's never been in my life. So I don't want to be Dwayne, I'd rather be Wayne". Couric asked Wayne if his father knew of this and Wayne replied with a smile, "He knows now." He wrote his first rap song at age eight. In the summer of 1991, he met Bryan Williams, rapper and owner of Cash Money Records. Carter recorded freestyle raps on Williams's answering machine, leading him to mentor the young Carter and include him in Cash Money-distributed songs. He also recorded his first ever collaboration album True Story with rapper B.G.. At the time, Carter was 11, and B.G. was 14, and the two were billed as "The B.G.z". When he was 12, he played the part of the Tin Man in his middle school drama club's production of The Wiz. At age 12, he deliberately shot himself with a 9 mm handgun, and off-duty police officer Robert Hoobler drove him to the hospital. At McMain Magnet School, Carter was an honors student, but he dropped out at the age of 14 to focus on a musical career. Personal life Relationships and Children Lil Wayne has four children. His first child, daughter Reginae, was born November 29, 1998 when he was 16, to his high school sweetheart Toya Johnson. They later married on Valentine's Day 2004 and divorced in 2006. Internet rumors started circulating in August 2008 that Wayne's daughter had died in a car crash, which however he quickly cleared up as false saying "Please allow me to dispel any rumors or speculations and report that my daughter is alive, healthy and surrounded by family who cares and loves her dearly. The rumors are completely false and unfounded; neither Reginae nor any other member of my family has been involved in any car accident." His second child, Dwayne III, was born on October 22, 2008, at The Christ Hospital in Cincinnati to radio broadcaster Sarah Vivan. His third child, Cameron, was born to actress Lauren London on September 9, 2009. His fourth child, Neal, was born on November 30, 2009, to singer Nivea. Trina also became pregnant with Wayne's child, but later suffered a miscarriage. In July 2014, it was rumored he was dating singer Christina Milian whom he attended the ESPY Awards with. They later confirmed their relationship in mid-2015 after which they received criticism from their interconnected exes, singer Nivea and songwriter The-Dream. They split at the end of 2015 after collaborating on various singles, videos, and concert dates. In October 2019, Lil Wayne became engaged to plus size model La'Tecia Thomas. Discography Studio albums *Tha Block Is Hot (1999) *Lights Out (2000) *500 Degreez (2002) *Tha Carter (2004) *Tha Carter II (2005) *Tha Carter III (2008) *Rebirth (2010) *I Am Not a Human Being (2010) *Tha Carter IV (2011) *I Am Not a Human Being II (2013) *Free Weezy Album (2015) *Tha Carter V (2018) *Funeral (2020) Category:Users that joined in 2013 Category:Male YouTubers Category:American YouTubers Category:YouTube Musicians Category:One Million Subscribers Category:Two Million Subscribers Category:Three Million Subscribers Category:Four Million Subscribers Category:Five Million Subscribers Category:One Billion Views